Despite earning worldwide fame and a fortune playing the brilliant Dr. Gregory House on the hit medical drama House, actor Hugh Laurie carries a profound sense of guilt. The British star, who convincingly portrayed an American doctor for eight seasons, has revealed that he feels he took a “shortcut” in life, becoming a “fake version” of the doctor his father truly wanted him to be.
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Laurie’s father, Dr. William “Ran” Laurie, was not only a distinguished physician but also an Olympic gold medalist in rowing. He had high hopes that his youngest son would follow in his medical footsteps. Hugh was indeed on that path, studying at the same Cambridge college as his father and training as a rower with Olympic ambitions. However, his life took a dramatic turn when he discovered the university’s drama club, the Cambridge Footlights.
It was there he met Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry, setting him on a course toward comedy and acting. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Laurie built a successful career in British television with shows like Blackadder. But it was his role as the acerbic Dr. House that catapulted him to global stardom, requiring him to master an American accent and embody a medical genius.
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Despite the show’s massive success, Laurie has confessed to feeling like a “cop-out.” He shared that his father, who passed away in 1998, would have “hated” the shortcut he took. “I would have liked to have become a doctor myself and I still have doctor fantasies,” Laurie admitted, revealing that his celebrated TV role is a constant reminder of the path not taken and a source of “great guilt.”
